


Speak Now

by very_distinctive_flamingo



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, F/M, i really suck at tags sorry, peggy crashes a wedding, the only people who don't know that daniel loves peggy are daniel and peggy, violet is a very good person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25411342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/very_distinctive_flamingo/pseuds/very_distinctive_flamingo
Summary: Daniel is getting married to Violet, and Peggy swears that she's happy for them. She's said it so much that she almost believes it. Almost. And when the big day rolls around, it's harder to pretend than she thought it would be, and not just for her...Or, I'm kind of obsessed with the song Speak Now by Taylor Swift and I decided to write an AU based off of it.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Speak Now

It had been days and days of telling herself, and everyone else, that she was happy for Daniel and Violet. And she was, she truly was. She just hadn’t thought that it would be so hard to watch, so hard to stay as complacent as she’d ever been in her life. Because Peggy wasn’t one to sit back and watch terrible things happen, and it was becoming more and more clear to her that this was a terrible thing. It was just that it was only terrible to her. 

God, why was she even still thinking about this? It was done and Daniel had made his choice and she just had to walk into the church. She just had to walk up those foreboding steps, through the big stone doors, and keep a smile on her face. It was easy, truly. Peggy was good at smiling even when there were tears in her eyes, and if she hadn’t been before, she had enough practice now to do it professionally. She drew in a deep breath and started up the steps. Jarvis was waiting for her at the top, and he and Ana walked in with her, flanking her like they knew how hard this would be for her. 

The open hall of the church looked beautiful. Evening light streamed in through the stained glass windows, and the altar was decorated with flowers that saturated the air with sweet fragrance. Peggy stopped a woman she didn’t know and asked where Violet was, and followed her pointing finger. She stopped to change into her bridesmaid’s dress and then headed to find the bride. 

“Peggy! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” Violet descended on her with a beaming smile, hugging her tightly. 

“I’m glad to be here,” Peggy said, slightly muffled by Violet’s shoulder. Violet released her and turned around, exposing the open back of her dress. 

“Could you help me with this? You’d think they’d make this easier to get into,” she said with a giggle. Peggy did up the fastenings, taking her time because she wasn’t sure she wanted to see Violet in a white dress. But there was only so much time you could waste on doing up a dress, and when Violet turned back around, Peggy was struck with the cold reality of where she was standing right now, and what was about to happen. 

Violet looked gorgeous. The dress was a combination of delicate lace and shimmering satin that poured over Violet’s body like a waterfall. Violet was petite, maybe even shorter than Peggy had realized. She didn’t have many curves, but the dress was snug in all the right places, highlighting what Violet had instead of making what she didn’t obvious. Her golden hair was pulled up in an intricate updo, with soft curls that framed her bright smile as she looked eagerly towards Peggy. 

“So, what do you think?” she asked, holding out her arms so Peggy could see the dress properly.

“You look beautiful,” Peggy said earnestly. “Truly. Daniel is a lucky man.” 

“Nah,” said Violet. “I’m the lucky one. I still can’t believe this is truly happening.” 

There were so many words on the tip of Peggy’s tongue, stuck in the back of her throat, melting like sugar that welded her mouth shut. _“Yes, you are the lucky one. You don’t even know how lucky you are.”_ Or _“I can’t believe it’s happening either.”_ But instead she chose to say “Well, I can. And I know that it’s just the beginning of something wonderful.” 

Violet attacked her with another hug, squeezing her tightly around the waist. “Thank you, Peggy,” she murmured. “I’m so glad you’re my bridesmaid.” 

Peggy patted her awkwardly on the back and took the moment to blink back her tears. 

Peggy was waiting for the ceremony to start, watching last minute preparations. She hadn’t been to many weddings, but she supposed this lull was normal. A few early guests had begun to arrive. Peggy couldn’t help thinking of Daniel, no matter how hard she tried not to. One specific memory came back to her, and she was swept away. 

_It was a cold winter night, and Peggy was exhausted after a hard day’s work. She had been on her way out, shrugging her coat on, when she realized that Daniel was still at his desk. She’d paused in the doorway, and called his name. His head had jerked up at the sound of her voice, that one curl hanging over his forehead._

_“It’s been such a long day, I’m thinking of heading to automat to grab a sandwich or at the very least, a cup of tea,” said Peggy, who had previously had no idea that she was thinking of doing any such thing. “I think I skipped dinner,” she added, realizing that it was true, and that some food and tea would be very welcome. Especially with Daniel’s company._

_“Yeah. Yeah, me too,” Daniel said, shuffling the papers on his desk into order. “You inviting me to come along?”_

_“Yes,” Peggy said, still slightly confused by the words coming out of her mouth but by no means unhappy with them. She liked the idea of being alone with Daniel in this very safe way, surrounded by people but secluded in a booth. It was becoming clearer and clearer to her that the crush that everyone teased Daniel about when they thought she couldn’t hear was very mutual. At the diner, off the clock, she remembered thinking that anything could happen. And so she and Daniel had set off for the automat, arm in arm._

_It was late enough that Angie wasn’t working, which was a stroke of luck, because that definitely would have meant more questions than Peggy wanted to answer right now. She and Daniel shared a booth, sitting across from each other in the bright diner lights. They had started out talking about the case they were currently working on (now Peggy couldn’t even remember what that had been), but the conversation soon drifted in other directions, and soon Peggy was telling him something she never told anyone: She was telling him about Micheal, and about Frank._

_“You, Peggy Carter, were going to get married?” Daniel asked in disbelief._

_“I was engaged, yes,” Peggy told her cup of tea._

_“Huh. Imagine that,” he said. Then, after a pause, “But you didn’t.”_

_“No,” said Peggy, looking up at Daniel. “He wasn’t right for me. It just wasn’t… it wasn’t right.”_

_“Well, I bet some day you’ll find the right person,” Daniel said, smiling at her across the table._

_“I’m sure I will,” she said, busying herself with stirring her tea. “And I bet it will be someone who’s been right in front of me the whole time.” In the silence of those words, she looked up towards Daniel. He had the strangest expression on his face-- she couldn’t decipher it, but if she had to name the emotions at play, she’d say hope and… something else. Something more guarded. She got the sense that she was waiting for something, that they both were. The air was heavy with anticipation. Peggy’s eyes flicked down to Daniel’s lips and back up again. Daniel’s hand twitched on the table, as if he were going to reach out and take Peggy’s hand, but instead he just checked his watch._

_“It’s even later than I thought,” he said with a nervous laugh. “I should be going home.”_

_“Oh, yes, so should I,” said Peggy, trying to shake off the trance. As they stepped out into the dark night, it felt as though a spell had been broken. Suddenly, their conversation seemed like a distant memory. But the sense of anticipation lingered, and as Peggy said good night to Daniel, she kept feeling like she was missing something. That there was something she should be saying, but she didn’t know what it was. That was the last time she’d seen him before he’d gone to L.A._

Peggy was shaken from the memory by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face the very same smile she had just been thinking of. 

“Peggy! I’m so glad you’re here,” Daniel exclaimed. 

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Peggy said warmly. There was an awkward moment when Daniel tried to hug her, but Peggy was sticking her hand out for a handshake. Daniel stepped back and shook her hand, lingering for just a second too long. 

“I still don’t feel like all this is real, you know?” Daniel said, indicating the wedding preparations with a wave of his hand. “I mean, for a while I wasn’t sure I’d ever get married.” 

“I understand,” Peggy agreed, perhaps with more feeling than necessary. She wondered if he was thinking back to that night in the automat, the last time he had seen her before he’d left. She wondered if he knew what she had been missing that night. 

“Yeah, I know. You… you told me,” he said. She looked at him sharply. What was he doing, bringing that up now? 

“Yes, I did,” she said hesitantly. “That night. In the diner.” 

“Yeah,” he said, shifting his crutch awkwardly. “And you said that maybe the right person had been in front of you the whole time.”

He remembered? Peggy took a step back, feeling like this was all too much. She felt out of control, and she hated feeling out of control. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and a little voice in the back of her head was telling her what a stupid idea it would be to get her hopes up. 

“Where are you going with this, Daniel?” Peggy asked sternly. He took a step forward, compensating for the one she’d taken away from him, pushing her into an alcove where there might once have been a statue. 

“What did you mean, Peggy? When you said that? Did you know what you were saying? Did you know that it would stick in my head for a year after?” His tone was urgent, but Peggy knew she shouldn’t answer him. She knew she should just let this all fade away. It was his wedding day, for heaven’s sake!

“I knew what I was saying,” she said instead, holding his gaze, daring the fire in his eyes to burn her. “Did you?” 

And then he was there, right there, so close that she could see the flecks of gold in his eyes. When had he gotten that close? She didn’t feel out of control anymore, on the contrary she felt like the next move was hers to make. He was giving her a choice-- what a silly thing to do. As if she would ever choose anyone, anything but him. 

So she closed the distance between, let the space that had always divided them fall away gently as their lips met. He put his hand on her waist to steady himself, and it felt like his palm was burning straight through the fabric of her dress. Like when she pulled away, there would be a golden imprint in the shape of his hand on her hip. His lips were soft, and kissing him was so, so much better than she had even imagined. She was just starting to lose herself in the kiss, curling her hand in his hair, when someone called his name. _Violet._

They jumped away from each other, eyes wide and hair disarrayed. Peggy felt her heart pounding. What the hell was she thinking? There were tears in her eyes, blurring the sight of the man in front of her. He looked so pretty, his hair all mussed by her hands, but she knew she’d never see him like this again. Violet called for him again, but he was looking at Peggy.

“Go,” she said, her voice trembling. “Go to her. You don’t want to ruin your wedding, Daniel. You don’t want her to find us here.” 

“Yeah,” he said. “I kind of do, actually.” 

“Just _go_ ,” Peggy said, practically begging him. Her legs felt shaky, like she was going to fall over. If he stayed one more second, looking at her like that, she was going to cry. And while she didn’t mind crying in front of him, this was the worst time. Because this time he couldn’t hold her like he had before, when he had been the only thing keeping her alive while life flowed out of her. This was so very different. 

“Peggy…” 

He wasn’t going, so she did. She spun on her heel and walked away from him, keeping her head down so no one saw the tears in her eyes and the flush in her face. She could still feel his lips on hers, his hand on her waist. She knew the memories of that tainted moment would haunt her; she might be dreaming about what could’ve been for the rest of her life. 

It seemed like the ceremony was going to go off without a hitch. Violet floated down the aisle, beaming brighter than the sun streaming through windows, her eyes fixed on Daniel. Peggy watched them, the picture of bliss. That is, they would be if you didn’t look too close, because Daniel’s eyes kept flicking to Peggy. She was pretty sure if he looked at her instead of his bride-to-be one more time, she was going to slap him. Why was he making this so hard for her? She had been prepared to just be happy for them, to watch from the sidelines, to disappear as the night went on. She was ready to go home alone and let herself sob into her pillow until she fell asleep. And that could still happen, but Daniel kept looking at her like he expected something else, and it was driving her crazy. So she dragged her eyes away from him, inspecting the details of the church. Or at least, that’s what she tried to do. But it was only a matter of time before another memory came to sweep her away. 

_He had only picked up once out of all the times she’d called him after he went to L.A. She had gotten home late after a harrowing night chasing radioactive racoons across Howard Stark’s lawn (Long story. Truly. But Howard had learned his lesson, and now had a separate trash can for his failed experiments.) Honestly, Peggy hadn’t even expected Daniel to pick up. But she’d dialed his number anyway, and he had answered._

_“Hello?”_

_“Daniel! Hello.”_

_“You sound surprised,” he said, and she could almost picture his teasing smile. “Were you expecting someone else?”_

_“To tell the truth, I wasn’t expecting anyone to pick up,” she admitted. “I was beginning to wonder if your phone was broken.”_

_“Oh. Yeah. Uh, I actually didn’t have one until a few days ago. You know, new house, weird appliances…” Peggy didn’t know Daniel that well, but she definitely knew him well enough to tell when he was lying. And his words had the distinct ring of untruthfulness. She decided not to mention it because he was here now, talking to her, and that was enough._

_“So, how have you been?” he asked in the pause where she wasn’t speaking._

_“I’ve been good. Not very busy,” she answered. “My most recent mission has been chasing nocturnal creatures across Howard’s garden.”_

_“Really?” His surprised laugh brought a wide smile to Peggy’s face. She hadn’t quite realized how she’d missed him._

_“Yes,” she said, sure he could hear the grin in her voice. “It’s a long story.”_

_“I can believe that,” he replied. “Well, it hasn’t been that eventful here either. I guess crime’s taking a vacation.”_

_“In the middle of the winter?” Peggy raised an eyebrow that he couldn’t see._

_“Oh right. It’s so easy to forget what season it is here. Well, I guess I don’t have an explanation. But it’s been pretty quiet,” he said with an awkward laugh. “Not to say I mind, though. I’ve got enough on my plate,” he added._

_“I bet you do, Chief,” Peggy said. She still wasn’t quite used to calling him that, but she supposed it would get more natural. Or maybe it wouldn’t, since she barely called him anything these days._

_“It’s still weird to hear people call me that,” Daniel said, echoing her thoughts. His trains of thought always had an uncanny tendency to arrive at just the same stations that Peggy’s did, usually at just the same time (or a few minutes after her). It was one of the reasons they’d worked so well together._

_“Well, you should get used to it,” Peggy said, then turned serious. “No one deserved that promotion more than you, Daniel. You’re going to be so wonderful, I know it.”_

_“Thanks,” Daniel replied with an awkward laugh. “I guess we’ll just have to see, though.”_

_“Yes,” Peggy said after a pause. “We’ll just have to see.” There was silence as each of them tried to think of something to say. In that silence, Peggy almost blurted out the words that had been eating at her since he left-- words she hadn’t even said to herself. Words that she didn’t quite understand, that she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. But she would say them to him, if she could. If he would listen. She would tell him everything; how his laugh made something flutter in her chest, how his smile gave her the worst case of butterflies, how she wasn’t a woman who was afraid of much, but what scared her most right now was this: how they seemed to be drifting father and farther away from each other, and she didn’t know how to fix it._

_But instead she said nothing, letting him direct the conversation, and what he chose was a goodbye that sounded much too final to Peggy._

_“I should try and get some sleep,” he said. “Talk to you later?”_

_“Oh, yes. Of course. Good night,” she responded. And there was a soft click as he hung up the phone. Peggy kept the telephone in her hand, looking at it as if she’d never seen such a thing before, feeling strangely bereft. He had never answered another of her calls._

Peggy tuned it just in time to hear “If anyone has any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace.” The words echoed inside her head, bouncing around, taunting her. _Speak now._ It was like a call straight to her. _Speak now._ She was trying so hard not to look at Daniel, instead focusing on Violet and reminding herself that she wouldn’t do that to them. But… _Speak now._ She looked at Daniel. He was looking at her. Why was he looking at her? _Speak now._ It felt like it had been forever since the preacher had spoken, but the church was still silent. The clock was ticking. _SPEAK NOW._

Peggy stepped forward. 

All eyes turned to her. 

Her head was spinning from nerves, her hands were shaking. Everyone was looking at her, she could feel it, but she wasn’t looking at them. 

She was looking at Daniel. 

Her eyes were asking him _“Is this what you wanted?”_ And he was looking at her, but she couldn’t read his face. Her gaze drifted to Violet, who wasn’t looking at either of them. There were tears brimming in her eyes, and she had the most stricken look on her face. Peggy couldn’t make her voice work, couldn’t get her words out. Just like that night at the automat, that conversation on the phone, she still couldn’t say what she needed to. So instead she ran. Down the aisle, through the doors, away from everyone. Away from Daniel. 

Peggy made it all the way out of the church and down the steps before she stopped running. She sat down on the bottom step, covered her face with her hands, and started crying. Peggy didn’t usually cry at, well, anything, but this was just too much. She couldn’t stop the tears if she tried, so she didn’t try. There was no one around anyway, the street was deserted. She was out of practice with crying, she didn’t know what to do. She just sat there and let the sobs shake her body, let the tears flow down her face. Finally, after what seemed like forever but was probably just a few minutes, the flow of tears slowed. She wiped her face, and her hand came away dark with mascara. She wiped it on her dress because at this point, it didn’t matter. 

That was when the doors at the top of the steps opened. She heard footsteps, but not any ordinary footsteps. These were accompanied by the clacking and thumping of a crutch. She waited as he made his way down the steps, keeping her eyes trained on the pavement in front of her. She didn’t want to look at him, to read whatever he might be about to say on his face. He sat down next to her, laying his crutch beside him, and she still didn’t look at him. 

“Go back inside,” she said, her voice jagged from crying. 

“No.” 

And then she looked at him.

He was just as breathtaking as always. She wanted him so much. But it was never going to happen. She’d ruined his wedding, she was surprised he was even speaking to her. 

“I’m sorry,” she said miserably. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking-”

“No,” he repeated. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“You? Why?” She looked up at him in surprise, raising an eyebrow. “What do you have to be sorry for?” Her words came out colder than she’d meant for them to, but he wasn’t fazed. 

“A lot, actually.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture she instantly recognized as one of his nervous ticks. 

“Like kissing me on your wedding day? Because I agree, you shouldn’t have done that, but if you’ve come all the way out here just to say that, then all I have to say is I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” Her words were getting sharper and sharper. 

“No, I mean… there’s a lot that I’m going to have to apologize to Violet for, but I’m talking to you right now, Peggy.” He looked at her, his deep brown eyes begging her to understand. But she didn’t know what he was trying to say, and she didn’t feel like bothering to figure it out. Except that she did, oh god she did, but she wouldn’t let herself. 

“Yes, you are,” she agreed briskly, starting to stand. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. 

“Peggy. It’s taken me too long to realize it, and I’m so sorry for that, but I know now,” he said.

“You know what?” Her voice was veering dangerously close to a whisper. His hand was still on her wrist, and his touch was killing every rational thought in her mind. All the parts of her brain that were yelling at her to walk away didn’t stand a chance. Not against him. 

“I want you,” he said. She blinked, wondering suddenly if she was dreaming. It had been such a long time since she’d thought she might actually hear those words come out of his mouth. As if he understood that she was having trouble believing it, or maybe he was himself, he repeated the words. 

“I want you. Not Violet, not anyone else. Peggy, I… I’m in love with you.” 

There were tears in her eyes again. She could barely see his face, he was backlit by the setting sun, but all the colours in the sky weren’t nearly as beautiful as he was. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn’t. Not yet. Speak now, she told herself. 

“I love you too,” she whispered. “But I want this, you, too much. I’ve spent so long telling myself it wouldn’t happen that I almost accepted it, but you made it so hard. You’re making it so hard to accept, Daniel.” 

“I know,” he replied. “I don’t want you to accept it. I don’t want to accept it anymore.” 

“I want this too much,” she breathed. They were like magnets, drawing closer and closer to each other, both shining in the dying light. “Can it really be happening?” 

“It’s happening,” he said, and then he kissed her. 

_ Epilogue  _

“Are you ready?” Daniel was waiting by the door, all dressed up and ready for their night out. 

“Almost, I just-” The phone interrupted her with a shrill ring. “Have to answer the phone, apparently,” she finished, walking over to it and picking it up. “Hello?” 

“Peggy? I’m so glad you answered,” said a voice that Peggy recognized instantly. 

“Violet?” 

“Yeah. Um, listen, I ran those labs like you asked me too, but it went all weird. And then, well…” Violet trailed off. 

“Then what?” she asked. She wouldn’t say that she and Violet were quite friends, not yet, but ever since she’d introduced Violet to Jason Wilkes Violet had insisted that she owed her a favor. Peggy had finally relented and called it in, asking Violet to run some tests on a suspect who had also recently been the victim of a strange explosion. 

“Well, they disappeared. The lab results, I mean,” Violet explained. “I don’t know where they went, but someone must have taken them. And, um, the patient has also disappeared.” 

“Oh.” Peggy glanced over at Daniel, who was watching her intently. “We’ll be right there,” she said. Daniel raised an eyebrow. Peggy shook her head, curls swaying, and held up a finger.  _ One minute. _

“We?” Violet’s voice was small. Peggy silently cursed herself for saying that. 

“Uh, Daniel and I. We’ll be right there. See you soon, goodbye,” she yelped, hanging up the phone quickly. 

“Where will we be?” Daniel asked, eyebrow still raised. Peggy sighed. 

“Well, not only have the results of the tests I asked for escaped, so has the actual suspect,” she explained. “We’ve got to track him down.” 

“Yeah, okay, but do  _ we _ have to do it? Can’t someone else?” 

“This is our case,” Peggy said. “Well, mine, if you want to get into technicalities, but he’s your friend and that’s the reason this is anyone’s case in the first place, so…” 

“Fine,” Daniel relented, leaning against the door, looking more handsome than he had any right to right now. “But we don’t have to do it tonight, surely.” 

“Daniel, he could be halfway across the country by tomorrow, all he has to do is steal a car! Or even quicker, if he flies. Yes, we have to do it tonight.” Peggy was becoming more and more exasperated by the second. Daniel usually wasn’t like this; he understood that the nature of their job meant that it could and would, more often than not, intrude on their personal lives at any time. But here he was pouting like a child, Peggy thought furiously. She grabbed her coat and headed for the door, but he didn’t step aside. 

“Daniel,” she exclaimed. “We have to go! Every second we waste arguing is a second that our main suspect could be getting away!” 

“It’s just, tonight was supposed to be…” He trailed off and stepped away from the door, but Peggy didn’t move. She was focusing on him, suddenly confused. 

“Supposed to be what?” 

“Special. Nothing. Never mind, lets go.” 

Still extremely confused, Peggy followed him outside. 

They got home hours later, tired and frustrated after chasing the suspect all over Los Angeles. They’d finally dragged him in and handed him over, but they were both ready for the night to be done. Peggy was too tired even to have the normal conversation where they pretended she might go back to Howard’s house instead of home with Daniel. She just got in the car with him, scooched down in the passenger seat, and promptly fell asleep. He woke her up when they got home with a soft kiss to her forehead. She opened her eyes and gave him a sleepy smile. 

“Hi,” he said, returning the smile. “Let’s get inside.” 

“Let’s,” she agreed. 

They got ready for bed in companionable silence, the silence that happens between two people who are used to each other’s routines and presence. They climbed into bed together, and Peggy was about to fall asleep when Daniel shook her gently.

“Whazzit?” she mumbled, turning to him. 

“Peggy, tonight at dinner,” he started. He looked nervous. Peggy felt herself waking up, felt the confusion from earlier began to resolve itself. 

“Yes?” 

“I should’ve known that this wouldn’t work out the second time either,” he said with an awkward laugh. Peggy felt her breath catch in her chest, wondered if this was real. “I didn’t mean to do it this way, but I can’t think of any reason not to. I mean, we’re not… we aren’t the sort of people who need to make an event out of this.” 

“No, we’re not,” breathed Peggy, who was getting a pretty good idea of what he was about to say. 

“So I guess I just want to say…” He trailed off for the second time, and Peggy couldn’t wait. She really wasn’t a patient person, which he definitely knew by now. Anyone who spent two seconds with her knew it. So she attacked him with a sleepy hug, burying her face in his shoulder. 

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.” 

“Hey, wait, I haven’t even asked you yet!” 

She giggled, feeling a tear slip down her face. “You didn’t need to, Daniel.” 

“Well, I still want to.” He extracted himself from her embrace so he could look her in the eyes. “Will you marry me, Peggy?” 

_ Speak now.  _ She knew just what to say. 

“Yes.” 


End file.
